Introduction

Appropriate use of online technologies in healthcare education can reduce costs, maximize utility of scarce resources, as well as extend temporal and geographic access to educational content. Those factors alone would serve as valid justification for exploring their use; however, there is more. Online social environments can provide access to educational experiences that are not possible or ethical in face-to-face environments, can extend access to patient communities, and can actually provide new and enriched therapeutic and support environments for both education and clinical practice. Being aware of new and emerging uses of technology in healthcare and having the practical skills to stay current in these areas are no longer optional or a nicety. Rather, they are essential for clinicians of the future, who will require this knowledge in order to remain functional in evolving clinical practice and to communicate efficiently and credibly with certain patient populations.

The use of emerging technologies in healthcare education has particular relevance in addressing the recent Carnegie Report observation that ‘learners have inadequate opportunities to work with patients over time and to observe the course of illness and recovery; students and residents often poorly understand non-clinical physician roles’ (Cooke, Irby and O'Brien, 2010). Simulations, virtual reality and virtual worlds are particularly valuable in addressing the latter, while social technologies and mobile applications are especially well suited for the former. Gaming and serious games can be applied in both of these environments as well as many others, depending on the design and intent of the program. In this chapter, several major online educational technologies will be reviewed for their application to healthcare education, with specific examples provided to illustrate their use.

Emerging technologies in education